Next Stop, Holoska
by Darkhymns
Summary: It's Christmas Eve, and Santa Sonic needs to get his presents to all the good kids in the world. But a certain mad-doctor and his robot minion has other plans for the holiday.
1. Christmas Eve

**Written with Sky who I hate-love for all eternity. :) **

* * *

The winter breeze meant nothing to him, not unless he finally stopped and let the chilling air settle inside his lungs. But his runs never called for a breather, even more so when the ice made sliding that much more fun and the snow's texture muffled his footsteps across the ground.

The strap of the red velvet satchel nearly slipped through Sonic's fingers during a particular looping turn. He instantly grabbed hold, held his luggage close, blinking away the falling snowflakes that swirled around him in a drizzle. It'd be bad if he let go now! What would be the point of all this if he just dropped everything? Nudging his red Santa hat back into place on his head, letting one ear out in the open, he rushed through the thickening snow. His red coat flapped wildly in the wind, his white puff buttons on the front remaining unclasped. The outfit matched perfectly with his bright hat, though he wished he could've worn the black Santa boots as well, but they just weren't good for running at high speeds.

He kept fast hold on his present sack, knowing that the tundra would be the worst place to lose something. His feet skidded across the creaking glaciers as he left solid ground, making streaks in the fresh snow when he approached the yawning ocean, sending the ice flying until it sparkled against the night. If he made the timing just right, he'd be able to rush across the ice-cold water and make it to the other side. A risky trick really.

Holding the sack even closer, tying up the opening real good so that not even a speck of snow could sneak through, he leaped off a glacier edge, skidding down a slope that continued trailing underneath the waves. Except he steered his own path, his feet hurrying in a blur as he sped across the surface, a light spray erupting from beneath him. His quills got soaked instantly. The arctic chill caught up to him, making him shiver. The sensation nearly messed him up however, the cold making his steps falter just slightly, made the sack he carried just feel a fraction too heavy.

He nearly ran out of speed when he reached frozen land. Feeling the solid, reliable weight against his feet, he sighed a bit in relief, but the adrenaline rushed through him freely. He had to keep going!

It wasn't like he did that stunt for just plain old kicks anyway. Flicking a pointed ear, Sonic could hear muffled engines and metal clanks further off now that the blizzard was picking up, making the seas he just crossed over surge against their shores. No matter how one traversed his path now, it wouldn't be easy.

At the very least, he had 10 minutes all too himself. More than enough, really.

He circled around ancient evergreens, hands grabbing the low branches to swing onto a overarching hill without needing to sacrifice his speed for maneuvering. Green nettles came away with his glove, already picked up by the wind to scatter onto the white fields around him. He jumped from the ground to the gigantic, looping ice that rose above him, their shape bringing to mind of ocean waves that had been frozen while in mid-motion. It was like an ice breath had blew on the water, never letting the building waves crash to the surface beneath. A useful landmark - it meant he was getting closer now. Skidding on those ice waves was just another rush that he couldn't deny himself today.

It was only a few minutes until he reached the village situated between the ice mountains, its enclosed space giving it a bit of a cozy feeling than one would expect from a town surrounded by eternal winter. Small abodes arranged themselves in swirling patterns. The streets here had more freedom to twine around the ground, matching the streams that cut through the town for easy fishing. The landscape made the village of Holoska look fun to traverse through, even more so now that it was Christmas.

Festive lights decorated every inch of the town, blinking splashing greens and reds across the white now, making the whole place look warm and inviting. Last time he'd been here, the place had been cheerful, with the kids bundled up in their deerskin parkas, rolling around snow the size of miniboulders, crafting snow reindeer with broken off twigs for antlers, and the confectionery stands that sold chocolate mint treats. Now the village was illuminated by the Christmas spirit, strings of light bulbs wrapping around the snow-crafted buildings, and bright green wreaths hanging from the doorways of huts and leather-made houses. A lot of doors were opened wide to the night, their insides showcasing a warm glow from within. Everyone was still waiting for their Santa come by, and had been unable to sleep until he did so.

With a grin, he hooked the sack over his shoulder. If he stayed too long, his followers would track him down here, and he knew they'd just ruin the humble atmosphere with their obnoxiousness. Luckily, Sonic had always been good at multitasking.

He leaped off an icy crag, spreading his arms wide, the sack's weight suddenly becoming nothing. The hedgehog had jumped off at just the right angle, his silhouette painted against the half-crescent moon, the bright lights from below illuminating him in his red-decked glory. He saw a few kids crane their heads toward him, their eyes wide.

He somersaulted through the air, landing easily in the middle of what he knew to be the town square. Now the adults had turned, finally taking notice of him too.

"Presents!" one little girl shouted, her black braids bouncing as she looked to the hero in expectation.

Sonic winked at her. He plopped the sack to the ground. "Come and get'em!"

He was already throwing present boxes to the clamoring children, calling out a name once before surrendering it to the air. He'd seen these kids shoot and catch snowballs easily, so he was sure that presents would be no different. A quick backhand throw, or a gentle toss, and he got the designated gifts to their rightful owners. Despite its gaiety, the town was still pretty small, so he figured that he would have one or two minutes to spare before he handed everything out.

His ears flicked. Then he heard the engines. A frown instantly erased his grin. He should've known it wouldn't have been that easy.

From one of the ice mountains above him, snow cascaded down, light and harmless. He heard the mad doctor more than saw him.

"_Ho ho ho!"_

The children scurried back, not fooled by the laughter that tried so hard to be jovial. The pitch was all wrong, the glee it emitted more manic than it should've been. Sonic shook his head, embarrassed at the attempt.

There was only one present left to give out if he'd been counting it right. Already planning to deliver this one fast before running off to face the doctor, he jumped over the crowd, trying to spot his receiver. He only had a little bit of time before things decided to turn hectic.

The sound of engines and creaking metal was suddenly above him. He had definitely chosen the right moment to leave the children. Wouldn't be good if they caught in the crossfire.

Without missing a beat, Sonic swerved his body to the right, narrowly missing the long, silver claws that aimed at his chest. He heard the rip of fabric and glanced in annoyance at the sack now sporting a tear. Not enough for it to unravel completely, but another mistake like that, and he'd have to start carrying the remaining presents in his arms.

He heard the wind in his ear, pushed by an unseen force. He dodged again, this time making sure the sack was well out of way of the strike. His sneakers screeching against the ice-covered ground, he faced his opponent, his back to the continually laughing mountain.

Metal Sonic's attire was just as festive as Sonic's, though to a much more gaudy degree. Jagged reindeer antlers decorated the top of his head, perched just next to his artificial ears. A red scarf, sewed with snowflake designs, was wrapped around his neck to protect him from the cold that he couldn't feel. Though still a sleek blue, his engine reactor in the middle of his chest had gotten an alteration fit for the holidays. Neon red and green lights blinked in sporadic patterns on the separate cut sections. It matched perfectly with the red bulb that now served for a nose, its painful brightness staining the surrounding area a harsh red like a blinking siren.

Sonic took a moment, then snickered while sporting a thumbs up. "Lookin' good!"

The robot copy gave a violent shudder. The gears that allowed his limbs to move, that worked the contraptions inside his head, grinded loudly. It was a sound that spoke of frustration, the gears themselves threatening to snap off. He made another dash toward Sonic, the force of his lunge creating a dent in the ground where the hedgehog had stood moments before.

Metal Sonic turned, instantly reaching up a clawed hand to grasp at the antlers. Electricity sparked brilliantly. His red eyes flickered, stretched across the black monitor they displayed on.

A voice called out from the distance, the same one that had been laughing just moments before. "Hey! I already told you; no removing your Christmas ensemble!"

The electricity intensified for just a moment. Before he could be forcefully shut down, Metal Sonic moved away his hand, the sound of sparks still jumping across his arm. Claws curled in on themselves into a fist, shaking visibly. His head shifted slightly toward the mountaintop, as if hoping to find the voice so that he could wring its neck.

Taking advantage, Sonic had already rushed off, knowing well enough that the loud engines would follow him soon after. Still, he had that one present left! If he remembered right, he needed to go to that one igloo hanging out near the edge of town. Like most other homes, the ice blocks were painted in varying shades of red and green. A child stood by the doorway, holding his gloved hands near his chest to keep in some warmth.

Problem was, Sonic couldn't really stop and hand over the present, not with Metal Sonic's engines breathing down his neck. So before the igloo could vanish out of sight, he tossed off an expertly wrapped box while keeping his speed, throwing it at just the right arc for the kid to catch it easily enough. He always did have the perfect throwing arm.

He waved after seeing the kid catch it before speeding off even faster, leaving an upturn of snowfall in his path, followed by the lurid red of his metal copy's engine. The young boy blinked, keeping a firm hold of the present the blue hedgehog had given him.

* * *

Seeing both run out of sight, the child looked back to his present, gazing at it fondly. It was covered in a dark blue cool wrapping paper with a bright red ribbon on top. A tag trailed down its left side, sporting a blue hedgehog logo to show who it came from. He smiled with glee and hugged it tight, as if it could fly away at any moment.

A screeching noise exploded in the sky. It sounded as if hundreds of stereos were placed around the village and their creator was fiddling with the mic. After a brief moment, the awful screeching came to an end and the same unsettling laughter from before reverberated through the air.

"Ho ho ho! _Hohohohoho!" _The voice laughed and boomed in the sky, a disgusting mixture of jolly and derangement. "Merry Christmas!" it said. One could almost hear the derision in his voice.

House lights flickered back on, babies began to cry. No one would be sleeping tonight while Santa was here.

The child felt unnerved and looked side to side, expecting to find this jolly menace. To his surprise he heard a strange engine whirring. Then in almost a blink of an eye, a tall man was standing before him. By his side was what could have been described as a more terrifying version of a sleigh, sharp corners jutting out dangerously, metal steel plates making up its surface, with an emblem of a mustached grinning face plastered on its side. It hovered above the ground, flames from beneath it keeping it aloft. Christmas lights were wrapped haphazardly around it while a distorted version of 'Jingle Bells' played from a tinny speaker. In fact, it played from all the unseen speakers that surrounded the village. The song was harsh and hurt the poor boy's ears.

"Merry Christmas, small child!" the man said through a toothy sneer. He was dressed in a similar red outfit that the blue hedgehog wore, although it was baggy enough to cover the man's egg-shaped frame. The red material was made from the highest quality of velvet, the white trimming of a pure shade. He had on some extra accessories that Sonic did not; a pitch-black belt that encircled his wide waist complete with a golden buckle, loose fitting red pants, as well as long black boots where the pants tucked inside. A white beard hung from his face, matching the falling snow.

'Santa' laughed again, his hat bobbing with the effort, the tassel at the end waving in the air. He picked at his orange mustache which clearly did not match the rest of his white facial hair. He looked down at the child and saw the blue present in his small fragile arms. A grimace appeared over his grin and his brows furrowed in a moment of extreme rage.

The child flinched and held onto his present tighter, wishing his legs could move. 'Santa' snatched away the present in one quick motion, leaving the child's arms empty and cold.

The tall man in the red suit made a grunt and moved his index finger back and forth in front of the child. He let out a big terrifying smile again and rummaged through a filthy sack half-heartedly thrown on the ground next to him, painfully contrasting the clean and immaculate outfit he wore. It was covered in strange smells and black oil stains.

After a few more moments and a loud "Aha!", the tall man brought out a present of his own. He held it high in the air for all to see, despite that most people had run off at his arrival, and laughed his sick Christmas laugh. He threw it into the boy's arms, nearly knocking him flat, and grinned so hard it spoke the complete opposite of goodwill.

The boy looked over this new box with skeptical eyes. It was a disgusting yellow and orange, with the same strange mustached grinning faces plastered all over it. A horrible smell leaked through and burned his nose. The child wasn't sure but he could almost hear a faint ticking inside the box as well. He certainly didn't want this, but the hedgehog's own present was gone now. It was better than nothing.

"Merry Christmas!" the 'Santa' boomed again, laughing all the way. He jumped into his jet-equipped sleigh, flying up into the sky as he held the beautiful blue present and cackled in unrestrained glee.

He heard the ticking coming from the present increase its tempo. Looking at it curiously, he wasn't prepared for another surprise, this time in the form of a loud thunderclap booming in his right ear. Before he could react, the present he held in his hands was gone, with no hint as to how it vanished. The child blinked and began wondering if this was some kind of fevered dream from eating too much candy canes.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Sonic with his hand over his eyes as if he had just hit a golf ball into the distance. It took a moment for the kid to realize, but it seemed Sonic had kicked the present out of his hands and into the sky where 'Santa' had flown off too.

The ugly orange present scored a satisfying direct hit on 'Santa's' sleigh. A small explosion rocked the contraption and knocked the cool blue present out of the man's hands and into the night sky. 'Santa' grumbled to himself and began to scream words the child was sure he was not supposed to be hearing yet.

Sonic snapped his fingers and grinned, clearly pleased with himself. A flurry of snowflakes appeared in front of the boys face for but a millisecond before Sonic reappeared, holding his original present. He grinned a silly grin and scratched the top of his head as if he also couldn't explain what just happened.

"Heh, sorry, kid," he said as he tossed it back into the child's arms and sped off into the village, trailing after the flying sleigh that was weaving through the air drunkenly.

The boy opened his mouth, wanting to shout something out to the good 'Santa.' _Thank you! Merry Christmas! _Instead, he felt someone push him hard on his back, shoving him face-first into the cold, damp snow. Considering the soft ground, it wasn't enough to hurt, although it did make him swallow a few snowflakes that he tried to cough up.

Hearing the _clank clank clank_ coming from behind him, he turned around, finding a metal copy of the hedgehog Santa, wicked looking hands still held up from his push of the child. His red eyes coldly lit up against darkness. The reindeer antlers on his head were strangely menacing with their constant sparks.

Finally lowering his arms, the robot stormed up towards the kid, kicking up snow as he did so, looking silently furious about something. It clenched a metal fist, shaking it above the kid's head. It was making weird sounds, separate from the steel stomping of his steps, more like high discordant pitches that spoke of artificiality.

Then, with another computerized hiss, the robot threw a snowball at his face with a loud _plop! _Surprisingly enough, the juvenile action did nothing to make the angry robot feel any better, going by the constant sounds emitting from his chips and gears that made up his hardware.

Wiping away the wet snow, the child didn't see how Metal Sonic instantly jetted away to fly towards both Santas. The blue present was still in his arms, a little crinkled but no worse for wear. So he still had a smile on his face when he got up, his expression radiant despite the snowy clumps in his hair.

* * *

For Dr. Eggman, his holiday festivities weren't going as planned. He couldn't help but growl as he saw the children below on the ground, gazing up at the sky with their own blue presents. He screamed and raved into a microphone that whined incessantly, ready to show the brats the true meaning of Christmas!

But just as he was ready to belt out the most beautiful version 'Santa Clause is Coming to Town,' he noticed how his voice projected by the hidden speakers was getting lower. Mustache twitching, he looked to the mountaintops, watching as explosions appeared systematically, each one succeeded by a blue streak that passed by in less than a blink.

Unable to stand it, Eggman pounded his fists against his sleigh's control panel, causing it to sputter with electric sparks. "Stop it!" he yelled as Sonic continued to mercilessly destroy his work, and thus his gift of song to the villagers. "_You're ruining Christmas!"_

Sonic's echoing laughter did nothing to cheer up his mood.

Grabbing hold of his contraption's thrusters, he flew towards Sonic, already firing several missiles and rockets to destroy the irritating hedgehog. No matter if some of them flew too close to the town. He'd get rid of the pest if it meant he had to destroy the whole frozen island to do it!

Sonic met his challenge head-on, rushing straight for the hedgehog-seeking weapons to spin dash into them, making them fly up into the air. The resulting explosions resulted in sparkling fireworks that shone in the sky, another festivity that the doctor wanted to add to his holiday mayhem. The villagers on the ground clapped and cheered, their voices getting louder as Sonic turned away each missile away from the town successfully, while also putting on a beautiful lightshow at the same time.

"Metal!" Eggman yelled, pounding on his sleigh like a child suffering a tantrum. But the reindeer-adorned robot was already flying his way to his adversary. Sonic, still grinning, kicked him straight in the face.

Metal Sonic stumbled through the air, crashing straight into his creator's sleigh. A large dent caved in the front. Eggman sputtered, trying to push him off, and electrocuting his hands as he did so whenever he accidentally made contact with the antlers.

Sonic shouted to him across the valley, just the tone of it already insulting. Eggman looked up to see the hero standing easily on the top of a large evergreen. The velvet sack was swung over his shoulder nonchalantly, then with a taunting wink, he sped away into the winter forest. He was trying to lead him away from the village so that the people could enjoy the rest of their Christmas Eve. It worked, of course.

Having enough, Eggman kicked Metal Sonic out of his sleigh with his black boots, his heel hitting the steel head with a satisfying _clang!_ "Hurry and go after him!"

With a flourish, the mad doctor held up leather reins in his hands, the length of it sporting twinkling silver bells. He looped one end of it around Metal Sonic's neck, wrenching him back like a disobeying dog. "Onward!"

Metal Sonic didn't react right away. Slowly, the robot looked down, shaking in silent fury at the deepening amount of degradation he had to suffer through. Claws reached for the strap, but Eggman clicked a remote button he held in his right hand, and blue electricity raced down the reins, sparking Metal Sonic with bright neon lights. His sparking antlers did nothing to help lessen the electrocution.

The robot turned around after, the hinges of his limbs creaking painfully, his eyes still flickering from past abuse. Eggman held up the remote higher with a grin. Metal Sonic shivered, but did nothing else to prompt any more punishment. The reins remained wrapped around his neck. For now, he would be forced to obey his master.

"Go!" Whipping the rein to hit against Metal Sonic's back, he prompted the robot to fly fast, dragging the heavy sleigh behind him with the even heavier doctor in it. They cut through the sky, trailing smoke and fire as they pursued the blue wind in the snow.

* * *

Few people in Holoska slept that night, the memory of their Santa saving them from the doctor and his reindeer minion still fresh in their minds. Parents looked on their children with care, happy that they had gotten their presents, even when things had looked their worst. And they knew that Sonic would do the same for the next town he passed through, and the next town after that, and after that.

So the villagers gathered around their homes, celebrating what they had left of the Christmas holiday. Sonic, Eggman, and Metal Sonic had long left them, making it once again just a quiet village placed between the mountains in the tundra.


	2. Christmas Morning

**Hey! It's not even Christmas anymore, but whatever. I wanted to write something extra. (Also, don't hate me Sky, k?)**

* * *

The morning had sneaked over the horizon, taking away the darkness of the night sky, slowly, until it was inevitably engulfed by the light tinges of pink and blue. Early as it was, some stars were still visible over the mountain tops of Holoska, twinkling brightly as if unaware that the sun had just taken over. A young boy watched the slow and steady sunrise, seated by himself in a snowdrift, used to the cold that seeped into his lungs with each breath.

It had only been a few hours since their Santa had left, the wrapping paper of his presents, stamped with his hedgehog-shaped logos, long discarded to reveal their treasure beneath.

Delicately-sewn dolls, toy airplanes decked in all their intricacies, colorful music instruments from the flute to the small drum, to water guns and plastic swords, to soccer balls and fishing nets - each present appealing to each one of their intended receivers and their happiness at heart.

The children of the ice village were gathered outside, reveling in the morning-fresh snow as they raced against each other with their gifts, watched over by their sleepy-eyed parents. The chaos of last night would put not less than a few of the inhabitants to dozing by the afternoon.

And truth to be told, there were still a few little mishaps in architecture here and there because of it. A large evergreen, that had been fancifully dressed in bright tinsel and lights, had been split in half by the robot with his sparking reindeer horns. People didn't realize why he had targeted this tree in particular, or why he had made angry, computer sounds as he had stomped on the tree's branches, and had just wisely steered clear out of his rampage. The gates and fences surrounding the village were also broken or just completely buried by snow from the other, laughing Santa that had strung up his speakers around the village. His cackling voice had prompted the snow to fall from the mountainsides in little mini-avalanches, and even more so when he tried to sing a song in off-key notes.

But besides that and some haphazard trails in the ground when the blue hedgehog and the robot had raced around Holoska, the village was still whole, and their dwellings were undamaged, with no one being hurt besides a few eardrums from the keening speakers. Already people were clearing away the splintered tree, cutting it down for valuable firewood for the chill of the coming months, and shoveling away some of the snow from the fences so that they would be visible again. The pathways made by both super-fast blue blurs were already being covered over by the gently falling snow.

The boy, seated by himself in a snowdrift, knew all this well. He stayed quiet, watching the sky transform into an array of colors, already feeling nostalgic for Christmas Eve. Breathing in the fresh air, he hugged his own present close, already feeling better.

"Hey!" shouted one of his friends, a boy slightly older with his own deerskin parka unbuttoned. He had been roughhousing with the other children, his antics warding away the cold of their arctic home quite effectively. He ran up to the quiet boy that stayed apart from the other kids. "What did you get from Santa?"

Smiling, the boy held up his present: a stuffed toy that was a dazzled blue, dressed in red clothes and a curious red hat. The toy had a spiky head, not unlike the quills of a recent visitor, along with a matching grin and iconic red sneakers that could run over ice and snow as effectively as they had run over dirt and concrete in other, warmer climates.

"I didn't even think to ask for a Santa doll!" spoke the other child.

The boy, still seated on the ground, said, "I didn't ask for that."

His friend just looked confused.

Grinning widely, he held up his present to the bright sun. "I just asked for the coolest toy in the world." Snowflakes drizzled onto the blue Sonic Santa doll, white catching onto the soft, blue material.

* * *

In Dr. Eggman's fortress, the glow of Christmas morning greeted to metal runways, steel-plated missile cannons and bright neon lights that portrayed the coming of the festive holiday in garish display. Beyond the structure were half-finished roller coasters and monstrous Ferris wheels of the ongoing amusement park theme that the genius would never give up on. But his plans for making a Christmas wonderland of deafening sounds and flashing strobe bulbs would have to be postponed for today.

Deep inside the fortress, where none of the bright decorations from outside could be seen, Metal Sonic was taking a brief moment before he embarked on his task. If he had been a living creature, he would have taken a deep breath beforehand, trying to still the pounding of a frantic heartbeat. But as he was composed of cold steel instead, he remained silent. There was only the slight whirring of his inner machinery to serve as his constant breath, mingling with the metal click of his claws, the hum of his eyes displayed on their monitor in cheerless red.

Grappling the antlers on his head, his hardware sparked, emitting computerized shrieks that pulsed in time with his flickering eyes, almost swallowed by the black screen. But the power of the electricity was less than before, with no one this time to control its decibels to machine-charring levels. Shaking in triumph, he tore off the torturous holiday gear, and threw it to the ground. Believing that just wasn't enough, he stomped on it with a determined rage.

"Don't do that!" shouted an indignant voice from behind him, bristling with fury.

Metal Sonic paid the voice no mind, and proceeded to remove the rest of his ensemble his creator had forced on him. He whipped away the snowflake-designed scarf, and kicked off his hoof-like boots that only made him stumble whenever he wanted to use his feet for more than careful stomping. The alternating red and green lights that had illuminated his engine reactor was gone now, back to their usual yellow. The antlers that had somehow rewired his inner circuits to portray those Christmas colors, another of the doctor's ingenious experimentations, was no longer anywhere near him.

Finally, he plucked the red light bulb from his nose, and aimed it straight at the bald head of Dr. Eggman.

"Ow!" The doctor flailed at the amount of disrespect he received - or at least he tried to, but considering how his hands and feet were bound by thick, unyielding wire and how he was laying on his side, this was next to impossible. His pristine Santa outfit was now wrinkled, sporting tears and oil stains.

Looking at his trussed-up master, Metal Sonic knew this would be his one chance to get away from his Christmas nightmare. He clicked his long claws together, advancing on the doctor who was babbling about ungrateful, stupid, worthless hunk of junk machines! There were threats of being designated to the garbage heap, of data files being erased, of how his model would be torn apart and be fit for nothing more than scrap parts. But such threats were useless to the silent robot. Now Metal Sonic could pay back the foiled Santa for all that he had put him through! The costumes, the abuse, _the constant caroling!_ He would be finally done with it all.

Suddenly, there was a playback. It processed through his memory chips, crisp in its high-definition detail. Sonic, in his own Santa outfit, carrying his velvet present sack as if it were filled with feathers instead of heavy toys. Sonic, with his flashing grin, kicking Metal Sonic in his face, upsetting his circuits only once in a number of times that Christmas Eve. Sonic.

No. Christmas would not end with the pathetic doctor. How could he have not seen the logic of it all? The routine abuse of his system had messed with the code of all his rationale. It was only through his own sheer will that he had remained functional, despite his creator's clearly irresponsible nature to not take care of his work. With visible disdain, he kicked Dr. Eggman's side, satisfied at the cursing the man spewed out. But no. He was not worth his time.

It was already morning. Sonic would be done with his gift-sending. But now was the time to prepare.

Leaving Dr. Eggman alone in the control room of his fortress, who was now frantically calling out to him (or to any of his robot creations, but few of them would go beyond their programming to interrupt their own normal duties to a shouting voice) Metal Sonic went to gather the necessary items. Luckily, in this lair of cold-plated steel, there was still some rooms that were not dedicated to either scientific or mechanical engineering endeavors. Not many would believe that the mad doctor had a sewing room with the finest cuts and materials for clothing. As a man not only of science, but of the fine art of tailoring, it was how he had created his Santa outfit for his chase of the blue hedgehog. With Metal Sonic's vast databases of all things imaginable -including tailoring- he made what he needed in less than an hour.

The Santa outfit he wore was identical to what his copy had, down to the white buttons on the front and the hat that flopped over the side of his head. He had remembered all the details, displayed in his mind as clearly as a photograph. He had even been able to make the velvet sack, complete with a thick rope that was dressed in silver trimming. There was no presents in it now, but he had time for that later.

Simple and easy. The outfit did not overstate his character. It did not paint him in gaudy, demeaning tones like his previous. Yes, this was fine. He could tolerate Christmas if he was in this.

There was only one flaw: the other hedgehog Santa was still around. His past experience with Sonic and Eggman's holiday rivalry had taught him that only one Santa in the world would be sufficient.

Ignoring the hoarse screaming that echoed around the walls of the metal fortress, Metal Sonic jetted away to the plateau, already ticking down the days that would lead to when the world expected snow and the blue blur again.

* * *

By the time, Sonic made it back to the Mystic Ruins, the sun had long passed the horizon until the sky was a healthy blue, shades lighter than his fur. No longer chased down by mad scientific Santas and insane metal reindeers, Sonic eased his speed by a few fractions, enjoying his easy dash toward the little workshop on the cliff. He bypassed ledges and ruts in the ground, even with the ice slicked over them.

Just as he expected, some of his friends were already there waiting for him, each of them patched up for the chilly breeze, scarves wrapped tightly around their necks, heavy winter coats providing them some extra warmth that their own fur could not. Blurry shapes of orange, pink, black and red told him easily who he would see, even from a distance.

Tails was waving to him, watching the hedgehog skid across the ground to stop in front of them. Sonic kicked up snow directly at Knuckles' and Shadow's faces that were standing by the side. The red echidna spluttered and coughed, while Shadow did absolutely nothing.

"Did you deliver all the presents?" both Tails and Amy asked, eyes wide. Their breaths formed mist in the cold morning air, but they only shivered slightly.

Sonic held out the empty sack with a smile. Amy clapped her hands, and Tails grinned, wagging his twin tails excitedly.

"Nice work, Sonic," said a monotonous voice. The blue hedgehog watched as Shadow slowly wiped away the slushy snow from his face, his expression blank.

He was amused by the faker's telltale twitch of red eyes when he patted his dark counterpart hard on the back. But he was drawn to Knuckles who was now lying on his back, wheezing out his lungs. He looked down, an eye ridge raised in question.

"I think he swallowed too much snow," Tails supplied helpfully.

Realizing this, Sonic gave a rueful shrug that spoke how he expected better of the guardian, then nudged the echidna's side with his foot for good measure.

"Hey, now that you're finished with everything," Tails said, trying to act all casual, but unable to keep his feet still. "Maybe now's a good time for-"

Sonic gestured for him to stop, holding out a blue present to him that had just appeared. It was perfectly wrapped in shades of azure, the hedgehog-logo stamped on the trailing tag.

The fox boy couldn't stop himself from jumping up and down excitedly as he accepted his gift.

"What about me?" Amy asked. Her hands were behind her back, looking up at him prettily, the wind ruffling her pink quills. "Did you also get me a present?"

At that moment, Sonic had the most perfect idea that he could not afford to pass up.

"Sure! Merry Christmas, Amy!" And before anyone could draw a breath, he threw a snowball at Amy's face, who fell flat on her back, stunned.

Sonic laughed happily, wiping his white gloves clean. He couldn't wait until next year.


End file.
